Weddingbee Blog

Hive, on March 8th, we got married. I’ve explained to you before about why we had to get married. So, wanna know how you get hitched the Japanese way? Here’s my recap!

We went to our local ward office, met my aunty, and handed in our (numerous) documents to the ward office worker. Forty-five minutes later our number was called, and the office worker pointed out all the mistakes we had made on the documents. We corrected them, and she said that the “process” was finished. Romantic, eh? Here are some personal photos of the day:

Outside the ward office where we made it official.

Our marriage certificate. Isn’t it terrifying?

We had some cake and coffee with my aunt and then went home and…took a nap. We were exhausted! Mr. Glasses had been all over town collecting the final documents from the U.K. Embassy since 8 am and, well, beauty takes time. I had spent all morning on my hair and makeup. We napped for about an hour and got up because we had a reservation at the New York Bar and Grill on the 52nd floor of the Park Hyatt, also known as the Lost In Translation bar!

The food was delicious, the service was impeccable, the view was stunning, the atmosphere was classy and sophisticated (live jazz band!). It was the perfect end to a courthouse wedding day. We had salad, warm freshly made bread, steak (I had steak AND lobster!), mashed potatoes, and duck-fat fried potatoes. We also drank expensive champagne and cocktails. On our walk back to the station, we grabbed another bottle of champagne and popped it open at home. Then we…fell asleep. Hey, we had to work the next day!

We are really enjoying calling each other husband and wife, but it still hasn’t quite sunk in. When we got engaged, it was this huge life-changing thing; we had decided to be together forever. Well that’s been decided on since forever it seems (over a year and a half!) and although we’ve got a piece of paper that says it, it really doesn’t feel like anything has changed.

Of course, we never had a nice ceremony with vows and rings—that’s for October! We waited in a crowded government office with people declaring deaths, new births, and registering. It was the furthest thing from a wedding you can think of! Although we are married on paper, it doesn’t feel like we got married.

The next step is dealing with Mr. G’s visa, and that is a much, much bigger task then the business of getting married down at the ward office.

The party doesn’t stop over here, though! My mom has let it be known that she want’s an L.A. and Tokyo reception, so we’ll be having one here before we leave. My mom and dad will be here in the month of September to help us pack up, and I’m assuming my mom and aunty will make all the arrangements for the reception here. You’ll get to see how we paint the town Tokyo style!

How did you feel after you got engaged? How do you think you’ll feel after you’re married? If you’re already married, how did you feel once all was said and done?